Rider | Enkidu (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
toomuchbull) wrote2012-09-22 02:30 pm
toomuchbull) wrote2012-09-22 02:30 pm
Entry tags:
God AU! Fic: The Old Patterns
Title: The Old Patterns
Characters: Lancer, Saber and Rider, special guest appearance from the other Archer.
Words: 1161
Summary: Fucking around with Godhead AU in which the apocalypse is arranged! With thanks to Gil and Puel for looking this over and making sure I got Lancer and Saber voices right.
“That is vulgar.”
It is an astute observation, as far as Rid-- ah, no, that’s not right, not anymore. There is no more Grail and no need for names that obscure one’s identity, and so it is Enkidu, not Rider, that nods in agreement with Gilgamesh’s assessment of the proposition they have heard. It is vulgar. It is an insult. It is asking them to play out their story again - confirm that death is inevitable and that all must grieve - but to let the myth unfold over millennia, so that their parting is harder and the sorrow more potent. There are no words to describe how deep the insult truly is, and neither tries - they only stare at the newly minted gods in silent anger, daring them to respond.
“It is,” Sa-- Julie, agrees, as if the offer is nothing more than a routine transaction in the marketplace, haggling over the price of an apple. “Yet in those thousand years, you would both be permitted to author your own stories, far from--”
“This is unwanted pity where the eventual cost will only reverse our roles as mourner and deceased,” Enkidu snaps, refusing to let her finish. There is no reason to. Whatever her justification is, it will not mask the fact that this is charity - unneeded and offered as if a consolation prize for Rider’s defeat in the Grail War.
“It wasn’t meant as such!” Yukimura says, not quite pleading but close. “In re-ordering everything - all of the past afterlives coming undone, old stories fading - some reunions could be facilitated and the stories about them permitted to endure. Yours sprung to mind not only because Lady de Maupin and I had encountered you within the Grail War, but because there is no finer example of--”
“There is another motive.” Gilgamesh’s eyes rest on Julie when he says it.
“Beginnings need ends,” is her response. Julie does not confirm if it apotheosis that has imparted such truth or simply having been an actor, but it is truth all the same and fitting for her new aspect to take this matter into consideration at the start of all things. “Would you like to speak with each other first before making a decision?”
What Enkidu does not say is that anything that is like a gift from the gods is worth refusal on principle. Instead, he exchanges a moment’s glance with his friend, then mutters an exhausted, “Yes.”
“You have two hours.”
No thanks leaves Gilgamesh or Enkidu’s mouths - they only offer disgusted glares before walking away from the two godlings, hand-in-hand and at a furious pace.
“Do you genuinely believe they will consent to this?” Yukimura asks, once the two Sumerians have distanced themselves. It’s a good quarter mile, and it betrays their distrust.
Julie inclines her head. “I don't expect them to accept - but I need to ask it all the same.”
“And if they say no?”
“If they say no, then they are made into examples of what not to do when offered a gift by the gods.”
Julie half expects a debate from Yukimura, but it does not come. In silence, she wonders if he has accepted the inevitable fact that even the kindest of gods must display cruelty in their young years. Not out of desire, but out of need to set down limits - limits to be respected for millennia to come, long outliving houses of worship and malleable rituals. To do otherwise would unmake their godhood, and to send the world spinning into chaos.
-- Ah, there’s a thought.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu return after their allotted two hours, still hand-in-hand, their faces masking anger with a guise of stoney indifference.
“Do we have your decision?” Julie and Yukimura had long since perched themselves atop a crop of rocks, and it is to the two Sumerians’ displeasure that this looks far too much like holding court, with them as supplicants.
“Confirm the scenario first,” Enkidu says. “In entering into this pact you have proposed, the following happens - we both obtain immortality. We are permitted free reign to go where we desire - the heavens above, the ground below, and all realms that may yet to be added to this world. We are permitted to do as we desire and may not be punished by the divine. Indeed, we may play with the divine, as cat and mouse, until the end of all things. It will be us that decides when that will be, and the cost will be--”
“--My life for the lives all of the gods, present company included,” Gilgamesh finishes. “Is this all correct?”
“It is,” Julie replies. “And we have been over what you get in exchange.”
“Do your counterparts plan to keep an eye on all things at all times then, or will they behave as deities did before the One God, acting within time and space?”
“To recreate the Age of Gods as it was, it must be the latter.”
Another look passes between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, although if they communicate something, neither Yukimura or Julie can tell what - they cannot read stone.
“I dislike swearing oaths, nor do I dare imagine myself skilled enough an orator to create one with meaning,” Enkidu murmurs. “Will you take this burden, my friend?”
“I shall,” Gilgamesh says, eyes never leaving the godlings before him. “Let it be known to all and sundry in this creation then: myself and my friend agree to the terms as my friend described above - that when this second Age of Gods must end, we will be the ones to make it so. We swear this not on the Tigris and Euphrates, or on the names of our gods long dead, or on the health of the citizens of great-walled Uruk, but on our own names, which are to never be hidden again by classes or epitaphs designed to obscure who we are. No other man, woman, child, beast or god may bear the names of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, and we will never disguise ourselves. These words, once spoken, will make it so, as long as my comrade here agrees to all that has been said.”
“I do agree to all that has been said,” Enkidu says, solemnity matching Gilgamesh’s. "If it is accepted by the primal forces that even the gods must obey."
There is a moment’s silence that follows their words when all four feel the fabric of the universe shift. It is not the great tear that happened when Kirisikka dared to lay hands on the Grail, bathed in a terrible white light and threatening to render everything asunder, but rather a small ripple, as if a ball has been thrown onto something soft and the weight must be accommodated.
As if testing reality, Enkidu nudges his foot against the ground, and finding it as steady as ever, gives a begrudging nod of approval. “And it is so.”
FIN
--
FUN FACT: Every other paragraph, I had to stop and make dying whale noises 8D
Also if you're wondering why omnipresence is an issue, see here.
Characters: Lancer, Saber and Rider, special guest appearance from the other Archer.
Words: 1161
Summary: Fucking around with Godhead AU in which the apocalypse is arranged! With thanks to Gil and Puel for looking this over and making sure I got Lancer and Saber voices right.
“That is vulgar.”
It is an astute observation, as far as Rid-- ah, no, that’s not right, not anymore. There is no more Grail and no need for names that obscure one’s identity, and so it is Enkidu, not Rider, that nods in agreement with Gilgamesh’s assessment of the proposition they have heard. It is vulgar. It is an insult. It is asking them to play out their story again - confirm that death is inevitable and that all must grieve - but to let the myth unfold over millennia, so that their parting is harder and the sorrow more potent. There are no words to describe how deep the insult truly is, and neither tries - they only stare at the newly minted gods in silent anger, daring them to respond.
“It is,” Sa-- Julie, agrees, as if the offer is nothing more than a routine transaction in the marketplace, haggling over the price of an apple. “Yet in those thousand years, you would both be permitted to author your own stories, far from--”
“This is unwanted pity where the eventual cost will only reverse our roles as mourner and deceased,” Enkidu snaps, refusing to let her finish. There is no reason to. Whatever her justification is, it will not mask the fact that this is charity - unneeded and offered as if a consolation prize for Rider’s defeat in the Grail War.
“It wasn’t meant as such!” Yukimura says, not quite pleading but close. “In re-ordering everything - all of the past afterlives coming undone, old stories fading - some reunions could be facilitated and the stories about them permitted to endure. Yours sprung to mind not only because Lady de Maupin and I had encountered you within the Grail War, but because there is no finer example of--”
“There is another motive.” Gilgamesh’s eyes rest on Julie when he says it.
“Beginnings need ends,” is her response. Julie does not confirm if it apotheosis that has imparted such truth or simply having been an actor, but it is truth all the same and fitting for her new aspect to take this matter into consideration at the start of all things. “Would you like to speak with each other first before making a decision?”
What Enkidu does not say is that anything that is like a gift from the gods is worth refusal on principle. Instead, he exchanges a moment’s glance with his friend, then mutters an exhausted, “Yes.”
“You have two hours.”
No thanks leaves Gilgamesh or Enkidu’s mouths - they only offer disgusted glares before walking away from the two godlings, hand-in-hand and at a furious pace.
“Do you genuinely believe they will consent to this?” Yukimura asks, once the two Sumerians have distanced themselves. It’s a good quarter mile, and it betrays their distrust.
Julie inclines her head. “I don't expect them to accept - but I need to ask it all the same.”
“And if they say no?”
“If they say no, then they are made into examples of what not to do when offered a gift by the gods.”
Julie half expects a debate from Yukimura, but it does not come. In silence, she wonders if he has accepted the inevitable fact that even the kindest of gods must display cruelty in their young years. Not out of desire, but out of need to set down limits - limits to be respected for millennia to come, long outliving houses of worship and malleable rituals. To do otherwise would unmake their godhood, and to send the world spinning into chaos.
-- Ah, there’s a thought.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu return after their allotted two hours, still hand-in-hand, their faces masking anger with a guise of stoney indifference.
“Do we have your decision?” Julie and Yukimura had long since perched themselves atop a crop of rocks, and it is to the two Sumerians’ displeasure that this looks far too much like holding court, with them as supplicants.
“Confirm the scenario first,” Enkidu says. “In entering into this pact you have proposed, the following happens - we both obtain immortality. We are permitted free reign to go where we desire - the heavens above, the ground below, and all realms that may yet to be added to this world. We are permitted to do as we desire and may not be punished by the divine. Indeed, we may play with the divine, as cat and mouse, until the end of all things. It will be us that decides when that will be, and the cost will be--”
“--My life for the lives all of the gods, present company included,” Gilgamesh finishes. “Is this all correct?”
“It is,” Julie replies. “And we have been over what you get in exchange.”
“Do your counterparts plan to keep an eye on all things at all times then, or will they behave as deities did before the One God, acting within time and space?”
“To recreate the Age of Gods as it was, it must be the latter.”
Another look passes between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, although if they communicate something, neither Yukimura or Julie can tell what - they cannot read stone.
“I dislike swearing oaths, nor do I dare imagine myself skilled enough an orator to create one with meaning,” Enkidu murmurs. “Will you take this burden, my friend?”
“I shall,” Gilgamesh says, eyes never leaving the godlings before him. “Let it be known to all and sundry in this creation then: myself and my friend agree to the terms as my friend described above - that when this second Age of Gods must end, we will be the ones to make it so. We swear this not on the Tigris and Euphrates, or on the names of our gods long dead, or on the health of the citizens of great-walled Uruk, but on our own names, which are to never be hidden again by classes or epitaphs designed to obscure who we are. No other man, woman, child, beast or god may bear the names of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, and we will never disguise ourselves. These words, once spoken, will make it so, as long as my comrade here agrees to all that has been said.”
“I do agree to all that has been said,” Enkidu says, solemnity matching Gilgamesh’s. "If it is accepted by the primal forces that even the gods must obey."
There is a moment’s silence that follows their words when all four feel the fabric of the universe shift. It is not the great tear that happened when Kirisikka dared to lay hands on the Grail, bathed in a terrible white light and threatening to render everything asunder, but rather a small ripple, as if a ball has been thrown onto something soft and the weight must be accommodated.
As if testing reality, Enkidu nudges his foot against the ground, and finding it as steady as ever, gives a begrudging nod of approval. “And it is so.”
FIN
--
FUN FACT: Every other paragraph, I had to stop and make dying whale noises 8D
Also if you're wondering why omnipresence is an issue, see here.
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really the fun part comes in with how do the other two resident deities feel about the apocalypse being arranged
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and I have been making you a fanmix as a result
...watch this space?
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coherent reaction to come later but AH I AM GONNA SMOOCH YOUR BRAIN *A*
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I can't get over how on point all of these songs are for the themes this AU touches on. I mean. Mrs O just sort of KILLED ME and. Ugh ugh ugh And I love the TONE of the entire mix and
It is perfect. Every inch of it. Beyond what I could have imagined.
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Of which there are already two.
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I curse you for writing this.
I curse you for even conceiving this.
Most of all I curse you for making Gilgamesh be the one to barter his life.
You got me back are you happy now I'm just going to curl into a corner and die.
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(Gil here--the one not wearing egregious snakeskin trousers--and thank you for following along!)
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Ahhh anyways, hi! You're welcome? I'm glad that you appreciate my um... stalking. Of your things and... stuff.
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I mean to be fair, they actually do figure out a way to avoid it, and it's the reason Gilgamesh asks after the omnipresence thing, but y'know let's spend a good couple millenia being paranoid about this!
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Now if I could just figure out how the new afterlife's gonna work--
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Also man, Lancer and Death would get along well.
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... they would be such bros~ *flails* with lancer's earnest passion and death's easy cheerfulness and their mutual appreciation for hats. add saber in the mix, and! eternal friendship.
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UBUUUUUUUUU. Especially the hats!